Actuator mechanism for the folder of a printing press or the like

ABSTRACT

An actuator mechanism for a jaw in the folder of a printing press or the like which includes a pair of arms, the two arms having aligned openings for receiving a shaft which is keyed to one of the arms, the other arm being rotational on the shaft, one of the arms having a lug which axially overlaps a seat on the other arm with shims in between, the lug being penetrated by a bolt which screws into the seat so that when the bolt is tightened the arms occupy a predetermined but adjustable phase position. Half-moon bushings are interposed adjacent the shims and adjacent the bolt head to permit flat seating of the shims and flat seating of the bolt head to accommodate changes in angularity as the shim thickness is changed.

United States Patent [191 Blomberg ACTUATOR MECHANISM FOR THE FOLDER OF A PRINTING PRESS OR THE LIKE [75] Inventor: Maurits C. Blomberg, Naperville,

, Ill.

[73] Assignee: North American Rockwell Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa.

[22] Filed: July 16, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 163,277

[52] US. Cl 270/71, 74/569, 123/9039 [51] Int. Cl B65h 45/16 [58] Field of Search 270/70-77; 74/54, 569

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,169,715 l/l9l6 Erickson 74/54 2,536,165 l/l95l Foster 270/76 2,038,675 4/1936 Ray 74/54 2,656,729 10/1953 Bellini 74/54 3,214,162 10/1965 Breidenbach et al 270/73 Oct. 16, 1973 5/1926 Borschel 74/569 12/1930 Wilson et a1 74/569 [5 7] ABSTRACT An actuator mechanism for a jaw in the folder of a printing press or the like which includes a pair of arms, the two arms having aligned openings for receiving a shaft which is keyed to one of the arms, the other arm being rotational on the shaft, one of the arms having a lug which axially overlaps a seat on the other arm with shims in between, the lug being penetrated by a bolt which screws into the seat so that when the bolt is tightened the arms occupy a predetermined but adjustable phase position. Half-moon bushings are interposed adjacent the shims and adjacent the bolt head to permit flat seating of the shims and flat seating of the bolt head to accommodate changes in angularity as the shim thickness is changed.

1 Claim, 7 Drawing Figures Patented Oct. 16, 1973 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 m w w N I Patented Oct. 16, 1973 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN VENTOR. M4aP/fs c. 54 04456766 ACTUATOR MECHANISM FOR THE FOLDER OF A PRINTING PRESS OR THE LIKE A folder used for folding signatures of associated and severed webs at the output of a printing press includes a cylinder rotated at a speed which depends upon the surface speed of the press having jaws which must close from an open position at a moment which is precisely phased with respect to the movement of a folding blade which is mounted upon a cooperating cylinder. Failure to open and close at the proper instant and to the proper degree may result in malfunction and loss of signatures.

In the past it has been customary to operate the jaws by rocking the shaft upon which they are mounted by means of an arm or lever keyed to the shaft and which carries a cam follower cooperating with a stationary cam mounted upon the press frame. Any misalignment of the keyway, however slight, has incurred the risk of misphasing the jaws or of having the jaws operate in condition of marginal phasing resulting in possible loss of signatures sometime during the press run.

It is accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide means for optimizing the phasing of movement of a jaw shaft so that the shaft is rocked precisely in accordance with the means which applies the rocking movement. It is a more specific object to provide, in an actuating mechanism for a folder, a pair of arms having novel provision for clamping in a precisely adjustable phase position, utilizing shims interposable between the arms and with means for storage of unused shims. It is, in more general terms, an object of the present invention to provide, in an actuating mechanism, means for clamping one arm with respect to another arm employing interposed shims to obtain a precise phase adjustment between the arms which may be indefinitely retained but which includes provision for changing the adjustment in one direction or the other easily, quickly and in precise increments thus permitting any change to be made with assurance by relatively untrained personnel.

It is a related object to provide means for preserving a precise phase relation between two arms of an actuator mechanism which is distinguished by high accuracy unaffected by the degree of tightening force which may be applied by the attending operation and which is inherently strong, capable of transmitting a high level of torque but which is nevertheless simple, highly compact and of inherently low cost.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the attached detailed description and upon reference to the drawings in which:

F IG. 1 shows, in vertical section, a typical folder used at the discharge end of a web fed printing press.

FIG. 2 shows the end view of a jaw cylinder incorporating the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary section looking along the line 3--3 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the cooperating arms with the arms and the adjusting means shown in exploded form.

FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 are fragmentary views showing three different conditions of adjustment.

While the invention has been described in connection with a preferred embodiment, it will be understood that I do not intend to be limited to the particular embodiment shown but intend, on the contrary, to cover the various alternative and equivalent forms of the invention included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Turning to FIG. 1 of the drawings there is shown at 10 a folding and delivery arrangement for severing, folding and delivering successive signatures upon a conveyor. The associated webs l1 fed from a printing press are passed between a female cutting cylinder 12 and a male cutting cylinder 13. The leading edges of the associated web sections, or signatures, 14 are impaled upon a series of pins 15 carried by the cylinder 13. As the cylinder rotates, the center of the signature is engaged by a folding or tucker blade 16 which forms a fold in the signature by tucking it between a set of movable jaws 20 which are rocked backwardly and forwardly with respect to cooperating fixed surfaces 21 in a jaw cylinder 22. The jaws then carry the signature around to grippers 23 on a gripper cylinder 24 which deposit the folded signatures 25 in overlapping relation on a delivery belt 26. In the case of a high-speed newspaper press operating at a rate of 50,000 or more copies per hour, it is apparent that the delivery cylinders must rotate at high speed with the jaws and grippers being opened and closed at a high cyclical rate while maintaining a precise phase relation.

Turning next to FIGS. 24 the jaws 20 mounted in the cylinder 22 are in the form of laminated sections spaced edge to edge along a shaft 30, being secured to a radially extending flat" 31 on the shaft by means of bolts 32. The shaft is recessed in a longitudinally extending groove 35 so that the aligned tips of the jaws cooperate with the fixed surfaces 21 previously referred to.

Secured to one end of the shaft 30 is an arm assembly 40 which includes a first arm 41 and a second arm 42 which have aligned openings 43, 44 which encircle the end of the shaft, with the second arm being keyed to the shaft by means of a key 45. The arms are secured together by means to be described so that they rock in unison.

For applying rocking movement to the first arm 41, the arm mounts a rotatable cam follower 50 having a mounting stub shaft 51 which is received in an opening 52, a bushing 53 being interposed (FIG. 3). The mounting shaft 51 is permanently secured in position by a nut 55 and lock washer 56. Clamping force is applied to the bushing by splitting the arm to provide two relatively movable portions 57,58 (FIG. 4) which are clamped together by a cap screw 59 or the like.

Arranged in the plane of the cam follower 50 is a cam 60 having an outer surface 61, a portion of the cam 60 being indicated by the dot-dash outline in FIG. 3. The cam, which is fixed to the press frame, does not per se form a part of the present invention and it will suffice to say that the cam surface is smoothly eccentric so that the cam follower 50 is moved inwardly and outwardly with predetermined throw and timing, or phase, during the course of a revolution of the jaw cylinder 22.

For the purpose of maintaining the cam follower 50 seated upon the cam surface 61, a spring is provided which is coupled to the arm 42 so as to apply biasing force in a clockwise direction. The spring 70 is telescoped over a thrust rod 71, pressing, at its upper end, (FIG. 3) against nuts 72 which are threaded to the rod. At its lower end the spring bears against a guide 73 which is secured to the end wall of the jaw cylinder and in which the rod is slideably received. At its upper or active end the rod terminates in an eye 74 which engages a clevis 75 having an axially extending pivot pin 76, the clevis being integral with the arm 42.

It will be apparent, then, that the spring 70, reacting upwardly upon the rod 71 applies clockwise torque to the arm assembly, causing the follower 50 to bear constantly against the cam 60 which controls its radial position.

In accordance with the present invention one of the arms of the arm assembly is provided with a lug and the other with a seat, the lug being in axially overlapping relation with the seat, the lug having an opening and the seat having a threaded hole which is aligned with the opening for recieving a clamping bolt, shims being adjustably interposed between the lug and the seat and with half-moon bushings adjacent the shims and adjacent the head of the bolt so that the shims and bolt head are in flat clamping relation over the entire range of the shim thickness interposable between the lug and the seat. Referring to the exemplary embodiment of the invention an integral lug or extension 80 is provided on the first arm 41, the second arm 42 being axially extended to provide a seat 81 which is arranged in tangential opposition to the lug. Formed in the seat 81 is a threaded hole 82 which is engaged by a clamping bolt 83 having a head 84. Formed in the lug 80 in general alignment with the tapped hole 82 is a clearance opening 85 providing sufficient clearance as to accommodate changes in relative angling of the bolt over the range of shim adjustment of the arms 41, 42.

For the purpose of determining a precise phase relation between the arms 41, 42 a set of shims 90 in the form of thin washer-like elements are provided surrounding the bolt 83 adjacent the seat. To permit the shims to be clamped flatly between the lug and the seat and to permit a balanced force to be applied to the bolt head when the bolt is turned tight, regardless of the number of shims, half-moon bushings 91, 92 are provided which mate with axially extending arcuate grooves 93, 94 formed on opposite sides of the lug, the bushings 91, 92 having clearance openings 95, 96 for reception of the shank of the bolt 83. The shims which are surplus, that is, not required in order to establish a predetermined phase relation between the arms, and which are indicated at 97, are sotred under the bolt head. In this position they act as spacers so that the same amount of thread 82 is engaged by the bolt in all conditions of shimmed adjustment.

The ease of adjustment will be apparent by comparing the condition shown in FIG. with that shown in FIG. 6. In FIG. 5 an adjusting group of five shims 90 are used to provide a certain angular adjustment between the arms 41, 42 with three shims being interposed under the bolt head. To change the adjustment, the bolt is unscrewed and two of the shims are shifted to active position, making a total of seven active shims with one being stored as shown in FIG. 6. This changes the angling between the arms by apredetermined degree, with the resulting change in angle between the lug 80 and the seat 81 being ac'commodajed by the rocking of the half-moon bushings 91, 92. Conversely, the angle may be changed in the opposite direction, for example, by employing three shims in active position and five in stored position as shown in FIG. 7. Again, the change in relative angular position of lug 80 and seat 81 is accommodated by rocking of the half-moon bushings as shown in FIG. 7.

The total number of shims, eight in the present example, is for purposes of illustration only, and it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that a higher order of incremental accuracy may be obtained by employing a relatively large number of thin shims. Also while the invention has been described in connection with shifting of shims of equal thickness, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the shims may be of unlike thickness with the individual shims color coded or otherwise marked and in which case the change in adjustment may be obtained by transferring certain of the shims from storage to active position and certain other of the shims from active to storage position to produce a predetermined thickness of active shims. In any event the change in the relative angular position of the arms 41, 42 may be predetermined and the press operator may be instructed simply in terms of the number or identity of shims to be shifted from one position to the other. The final position does not depend in any way upon the force which the pressman may exert when screwing the clamping bolt tight.

It will be noted that the structure amply fulfills the requirements set forth. It permits the making of small positive changes in angle with the minimum change limited only by the thickness dimension of an individual shim, or by the differential thickness of the shims within a set, thereby to take up for any initial misalignment of a keyway or to adjust the jaws whenever required as, for example, upon substitution of a new set or even to take up slight amount of wear at the gripping surfaces. The adjustment, once set, remains precisely fixed just as though the arms 41, 42 were integral with one another. Indeed, it is one of the features of the construction that, because of the axial overlapping of the arms, the composite strucutre is integrated and highly compact as well as being economical to manufacture.

On the other hand it will be apparent upon comparison of FIGS. 5 and 7 that the structure permits a wide range of adjustment with automatic leveling for change of angle.

While the structure has been described particularly in connection with an actuating mechanism for a jaw cylinder in a folder of a delivery mechanism, it will be apparent that the utility of the arrangement is by no means limited to this application and may be used wherever it is necessary to provide precise phase adjustment between an arm, or lever, and a shaft. Consequently, the reference to a folder for a printing press or the like used herein refers to those mechanical applications where phasing problems are encountered which are analogous to the problem of securing an maintaining proper phasing of a jaw or other timed gripping element.

While it is preferred to have the thread 82 integrally machined in the seat 81, it will be apparent that integral threading is not necessary to the practice of the invention and that, if desired, the seat could provide a clearance opening with provision for a nut behind the seat; hence the term threaded hole as used herein contemplates, as an alternative, the thread in a nut.

The term keyed as used herein refers to any means for permanently fixing an arm to a shaft. If desired, the fixed arm may be welded to establish an approximate phase position and then shimmed to precise phase. The term lug refers to any arm or projection for mounting a clamping screw in the manner set forth.

The term half-moon bushing as used herein refers to an element having a cylindrical or arcuate surface to accommodate minor changes in angling between the lug and the seat in the various relative positions of the arms thereby to provide a self-leveling effect so that the clamping force is applied equally over the shim area.

What is claimed is:

1. In an actuator mechanism for a folder for a printing press or the like, the combination comprising a rockably positionable shaft, a first arm and a second arm, the two arms having aligned shaft openings and being arranged closely side by side on the shaft, means for keying the first arm to the shaft, means connected to the second arm for imparting rocking movement thereto, and means for transmitting the rocking motion of said second arm to said first arm including a laterally projecting seat formed on one of said arms, a coacting, radially projecting lug formed on the other one of said arms in overlapping relation with said seat and for movement toward and away from the seat as the arms are rocked relative to one another, said lug having a front side with a transverse arcuate groove therein facing said seat and a rear side with a transverse arcuate groove therein facing away from said seat, a through hole formed in said lug and extending through the said grooves in the front and rear sides, a tapped hole formed in said seat and in alignment with said through hole, a headed clamping bolt extending thorugh the through hole and threaded into the tapped hole, a series of interchangeable shims mounted on said bolt and interposed between the lug and the seat to thereby locate the said first and second arms in predetermined phase relation, and a mating, semi-cylindrical bushing having an aperture therein for recieving said bolt mounted in each said arcuate groove in the front and rear sides of said lug for flat seating of the shims and bolt head with respect to jhe lug, the sizes of said thru hole and of said aperture being sufficiently large to loosely accomodate said bolt.

P0405) UNETEE STATES PATENT @FFICE CERTEFICATE 9F CURRECTEQN Patent No. 3J 765,671 Dated October 16 1973 Inventor-(s) Maurits Co Blomberg It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent arehereby corrected as shown below:

On Title Page, after Assignee: delete "North American Rockwell Corporation" and substitute "Rockwell International Corporation";

Column 1, Line 45, delete "operation" and substitute "operator";

Column 3, Line 45, delete "sotred" and substitute "stored";

Line 60 delete "accommodajed" and substitute "accommodated";

Column 4, Line 35, delete "strucutre" and, substitute "structure";

Column 6, Line 8, delete "thorugh" and substitute "through";

Line 17, delete jhe" and substitute "the".

Signed and sealed this 1st day of October 1974.

(SEAL) Attest:

McCOY M. GIBSON JR, C. WXRSHALL DANN Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

1. In an actuator mechanism for a folder for a printing press or the like, the combination comprising a rockably positionable shaft, a first arm and a second arm, the two arms having aligned shaft openings and being arranged closely side by side on the shaft, means for keying the first arm to the shaft, means connected to the second arm for imparting rocking movement thereto, and means for transmitting the rocking motion of said second arm to said first arm including a Laterally projecting seat formed on one of said arms, a coacting, radially projecting lug formed on the other one of said arms in overlapping relation with said seat and for movement toward and away from the seat as the arms are rocked relative to one another, said lug having a front side with a transverse arcuate groove therein facing said seat and a rear side with a transverse arcuate groove therein facing away from said seat, a through hole formed in said lug and extending through the said grooves in the front and rear sides, a tapped hole formed in said seat and in alignment with said through hole, a headed clamping bolt extending thorugh the through hole and threaded into the tapped hole, a series of interchangeable shims mounted on said bolt and interposed between the lug and the seat to thereby locate the said first and second arms in predetermined phase relation, and a mating, semicylindrical bushing having an aperture therein for recieving said bolt mounted in each said arcuate groove in the front and rear sides of said lug for flat seating of the shims and bolt head with respect to the lug, the sizes of said thru hole and of said aperture being sufficiently large to loosely accomodate said bolt. 